Mr Heusele does not think that the most intriguing product made at Braquier is of very good taste. But we sell 1000 chocolate shells a year, people love it. Only 200 are exported, mainly to the UK. We can't export them anymore into the US.

This is no Chinese crap. Each artillery shell has a brass base and handmade thread.

The lady in charge of artillery shells assembles each base by hand...

... carefully tying the cotton thread to a small chamber filled with smokeless powder, the kind used in guns.

The chocolate artillery shells come in three standard versions "10", "15" and "20", according to the number of gadgets inside. They work fine, the only complaints we ever get is when from time to time there is only 19 gadgets in a "20" shell, says Heusele with tongue in cheek. They go for €78 to €108 a piece. Some people order them special, and ask for wedding rings or car keys to be placed inside the shell. With gas prices going through the roof already, is that such a good idea?

The chocolate artillery shells are place upside down, filled with the candies and gadgets, and finally the exploding mechanism which will sit at the base is carefully placed.

You can probably find similar, although less tasty, wedding bombshells elsewhere. But
although Mr Heusele insists that Braquier sold those candy shells already in 1869,
the mention of a Verdun Bombshell for dessert is bound to catch the attention of even those with the flimsiest historical culture. For
Verdun is known was the center of one the worst battles of WWI.

The visitor of Verdun who needs a reminder of how transient human life is just needs to drive on the same road were Braquier is for about 2 miles, and he will arrive at the Douaumont Ossuary. 1916 was a bumper crop for the Grim Reaper, with the military operations at Verdun leaving about 300,000 unidentified dead soldiers on the battefields in but a few months. Pétain, who successfully defended Verdun, inaugurated a large ossuary in 1920 where the young bones of those harvest by the Reaper's mighty scythe
could be mourned by their families who so far did not even have a grave to weep on.

A chapel was made for each of the 52 sectors of the Battle of Verdun inside a giant church shaped like a black femur with an artillery shell as a belfry. They say it was designed to look like a giant sword buried into the earth. This is not a sight you are likely to forget, and any warmonger should visit this place to know what war comes down to.
The light inside the ossuary comes from reddish stained glass and sent my camera into an immediate cerebral attack. I kept the color as it gives an impression of what you feel inside this place, where you are surrounded by the earthly remains of 300,000 people.

During the first Gulf War, in 1991, French television interviewed Antoine Pinay, a former French finance minister and WWI veteran. The journalist wanted him to bless the war and to say that cause was just. I still remember him unbuttoning his cuffs. You see, he said, showing a scar on his right wrist, I have been wounded in the First World War. There is still a piece of shrapnel in my wrist. I am now 100 years old, and it has made me suffer every single day of my life. So Madam, I do not wish war for anybody.

You can visit Dragées Braquier in Verdun and join the public factory tour or just ransack the extraordinary factory shop:

You know, those gold and silver coated almonds are very commonly used in Greece for memorial services (!). Anyway I enjoyed your Isanbul post too and if you ever travel to Athens please contact me. I would be happy to show you around.

I love sugared almonds so much - thank you for such an interest ing post. My son is studying the war in history at the moment so I will share you post with him too. Thank for you adding the extra photos.

#6

Answered by fx

Diane, thanks for dropping by! A visit to Verdun will reset everybody's clock as far as war is concerned. I'm glad there is something for our generations to see of that abysmal war, now that all those who saw it have gone!

#7

Answered by fx

Feyoh, thanks for your kind words! I'm glad that you could see this with my eyes, this is the paradox in Verdun, sweet candies manufactured in a place known for some of the most abject and useless butchery. But lovely people and great confectionery!

#8

Answered by fx

Johanna, thanks for your comment, I didn't know that such almonds were used for funeral services! Do they place one in the deceased's mouth so that he can pay his fare on Charon's ferry, like back in the days? I would very much like to visit Greece - what do you think could be made into an article on FXcuisine in Athens? Would it be possible for me to see the kitchens of one of these monasteries on a hill?

#9

Answered by fx

Jason, I've been eating dragées for a solid 2 weeks now and still not bored!

#10

Answered by fx

Ariun, the next Hattonchâtel installment will be the redcurrant jam, then on with the medieval banquet!

What amazing decadence!How cool would it be to give your wife a box of these for valentines day?Ride it like you stole it

#12

Comment by trish

Another fabulous article. I really look forward to your posts - (and now I'm late for work - again :))

Trish

#13

Comment by Mary Sanavia

Hi! All your articles are so interesting and have such beautiful pictures!. Thank you for taking the time and effort to share this wonderful places with all of us. The last one (kebabs) had some beautiful,mouthwatering pictures, I hope I can go there someday and I will know where and what to eat! I love Baklavas,so I loved that picture the most. (unreal green pistachios!).I'll be waiting for your next post.

#14

Comment by Sarah

Did you know? Silver and gold dragées are illegal in California! I guess the metals they use have tiny, insignificant trace amounts of heavy metals in them that wouldn't harm a baby, but it's enough for our government to say we can't have them. So it's yet another thing I have to be naughty and have a friend send to me if I ever want to use them.

What a fascinating article! Great photos too! We, Italians give these as favors for many special events, especially weddings. I still have my little bunch of almonds from my wedding over 20 years ago. The funny thing is, I don't ever remember anyone actually eating them. ;)

#18

Comment by Laura

I always hated sugar-coated almonds. Is it possible that I just never had a good one, like those from dragées Braquier?

What an amazing article. I've had those almonds in the US, they were called "jordan almonds", and not very good. These look like they taste amazing, as well as the cocoa coated ones. (which intrigue me more).

#20

Comment by Ivan Seligman

I love your thoughtful posts, and clean photographs. Who else could link candies and war. Glad the latter was not glamorized. It saddens me every day I read about our young men maimed and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq. Make candy, not war?

Thank you for showing me a part of the world, both cooler and less hurricane prone than semitropical Florida!Ivan

#21

Comment by wabgalant

Thats wonderful.

#22

Comment by Stephen

Bravo! Wonderful article!

Two quick questions:

1. Any links to video of your appearance on French TV?

2. Do the chocolate artillery shells actually explode? Are they classified as a novelty firework or something similar? What happens to the contents?

#23

Answered by fx

Stephen, I can send you the links if you want. The chocolate shells are what English speakers call, I think, "party poppers", they do explode and throw a shower of cheap gadgets and expensive dragées all over the table. I wanted to try and photograph one exploding, but at €80 a pop and 5 tries to get one right, that's more gadgets than I need!

#24

Answered by fx

Ivan, thanks for visiting! Ah yes, war, well during WWI the young men did not last very long, in some battles tens of thousands died within hours of starting their tour of duty, and chopped down to pieces by 50 caliber machine guns. Nothing like the wars we see today, as horrible as these are too. Make candies, not war, that's my motto.

#25

Answered by fx

Laura, these almonds have a very delicate taste, first you suck it for a moment, then you give in and crunch them and your mouth is filled with delicate almond flavor. Or you get one with toasted-and-caramelized almond bits and the taste is that much more intense. Or one with chocolate and you have to close your eyes by fear of crying with delight. We also make the chocolate ones in Switzerland, actually you can make them at home, I'll try to post an article some day.

#26

Answered by fx

Laura, where did come from the best sugar-coated almond you ever tasted (but hated)? I fear there are many classes of these candies out there, but as Oscar Wilde, I have very simple tastes: the best always satisfies me.

#27

Answered by fx

Susan, but you should throw rices grains at weddings and *eat* the sugar-coated almonds. The Romans believed these increased fertility - lots of kids who will have their own wedding one day!

#28

Answered by fx

Jason, indeed this ossuary is awesome, and what's more, circumstances have made that Germans and French are buried in it, I believe, because they could not always distinguish the bones. President Kohl and Mitterand chose this very spot in 1984 to hold hands for their common memorial day honoring the people who gave their life for that delirious war.

#29

Answered by fx

Nate, I'm glad that this sweet, then bitter article pleased you!

#30

Answered by fx

Sarah, ah but in California they will eventually ban everything. Foie gras, bottled water, now silver dragées. And I'm sure you get 3 to 5 in the state penitentiary if you eat them across state lines. You deserve better politicians!

Dave, you can also get the chocolate ones at Auer in Geneva and in other places, probably in Paris too and maybe mail order. Definitely an elegant Valentine present!

#34

Comment by Kat

Only the shameless conspicuous consumer idiots in a place like Dubai that is literally built on slave labor and indentured servitude would buy something as stupid as gilded almonds in jewelry boxes. No man should be forced to spend his money any certain way but he is still open for criticism and these people are should have it heaped on them.

#35

Comment by Deborah Stratmann

I did like this article ... and the wonderful photos. We are great fans of the almond dragées. I try always to keep some on hand for the young boy who lives downstairs. I think he will be interested to see how they are made.

Thank you,dws

#36

Answered by fx

Deborah thanks for your visit and glad to hear you found the visit and behind-the-scenes interesting!

#37

Answered by fx

"Kat" from Miami uses my blog to flush the anger and bitterness she's got inside, insulting the people of Dubai. Well, I am not a psychiatrist so I'll limit myself to answering the arguments she used in the self-cleaning.1) Is Dubai built on "slave labor"? Well if we applied the same strict moral criterias as she seems to use to other cities, what would people think of Shanghai? Or Washington, they certainly had real slaves there? I am not sure how people in Dubai would say, but down here we might say "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?".2) About the gilded almonds being "stupid" and a sign of "shameless conspicuous consumer idiots", I might point out that the expression was coined by Thorstein Veblen in a book which I warmly recommend but which spoke mainly about America if my memory serves me right. There are far more people in Paris eating gilded chocolates than those in Dubai who eat imported French gilded almonds. What does it matter to you in they eat gold rather than having it, like you, on the connectors of your cellular phone's computer chips?

Isn't Dubai a hot tourist spot?,I believe the reason why these Verdun's Almonds are being exported there is because of the higly demand of luxury and fancy items from around the world by TOURISTS, this is my opinion, nothing to do if Dubai natives or residents are eating gold instead of having it.How unfortunate some people use your blog to spit anger.

Thank you for sharing this! I am keen to try making my own medieval comfits, which are done with the same technique as sugared almonds, but with tiny spices instead, so seeing the factory photos is very inspirational.

I just loved your 'almond' story! Thanks for all the photos. I must post your site on mine..I just need the time..oh heck, I'll do it when I finish this. This is a new website, gave you my old one, but this one is advertised in my ol' home town's newspaper, so I'll make a new webpage: 'Wonderful Websites', and I'll put your's at the top.

Re: Dubai

Friends of ours live & work in Dubai. Yes, it is fancy, fancy there! It is also very, very hot. We have not visited there; our visits are strickly to Florida and the Caymans, with no desire to visit Dubai. Loads of tourist there, and they all have the big bucks to spend, so gold almonds would peak their palette.

Take care. Your efforts are appreciated!

#46

Answered by fx

Eleanor, thanks for linking to FXcuisine, much appreciated! I myself hope to visit Dubai once, seems a thrilling place. But for now, scorched crane seems to be the specialty, I'll wait for the building boom to subside...

#47

Answered by fx

Patrick, thanks for the tip, unfortunately my trusted English editors are on vacation and more than the occasional typo escaped me. Do not hesitate to let me know if you find more!

#48

Comment by chris

Hello fxlovely post. except for the bomb. I have one small gripe. under one of the photos you write would it be too much to ask that you re-phrase it to read Ithink i understand what you were expressing. But I doubt you mean to say that every single person of Chinese heritage in the world works to a low standard. I certainly do not. is that what you meant?

Dear Chris, I am very sorry if you felt slightly offended at my mention of a low-quality Chinese goods. I do not mean to say, at all, that Chinese people do not produce high-quality goods, and myself I drink every day Chinese tea, that's the only tea I would ever drink. I do not know much about China but it is clear to me at least that in the matter of tea nothing beats the refinement of China. And I'm sure many other things are of the same level, however you must agree that in the last 10 years China has become the huge economic power that it is by exporting mass products at the most competitive price possible. Inevitably, most of those products are not in the upper end of the market in terms of quality. But I do not mean to say that the Chinese cannot produce high quality products - I know it for a fact that they do some of the most refined teas and teapots in the world, and that can only be the tip of the iceberg I can see from my corner of the world! So, once again I apologize if this has offended readers of Chinese descent.

#50

Comment by Catherine

FX, although I am as taken aback by Kat's vehemence as anyone, there may be something to be said for the concept of evolving social mores, and while slavery was acceptable 300 years ago, times have changed. Nor is it hypocritical of us to realize the wrongdoing going on there now--I don't hold modern Germans responsible for the Holocaust, so I don't believe I should be held responsible for my ancestors' views on slavery.

I don't know why she saw fit to sour your article because of a fleeting reference to Dubai though, that was just rude.

#51

Answered by fx

Catherine, I am not one to cast the first stone, but my feeble capacity does not grasp how slavery was "acceptable" 300 years ago but not any more today. "Accepted", sure, but "acceptable" implies a constant moral standard that, given past circumstances, made it OK. The original poster commented on Dubai being a city built on slave labor, and she's from the US, so I think it's fair to point to her that she does not need to go as far as Dubai to point a finger at a city "built by slaves". Obviously I am not the one pointing the finger. But let's leave it at that and return to being slaves only of our passion for food.

#52

Comment by Howard

I lived quite near this factory when I was a child back in the early 1960's. Whenever I stopped by the workers would let me have a look around and then fill my smock pockets with coated almonds. Of course the factory was not quite as clean back then.I also remember the chocolate Bomb shells being sold in the local sweet shops. The biggest one came with a screen you set around it for safety. I always wanted one for my birthday but we could never afford any of them.Thanks for the memory nudge.